In Abington, a town accountant got $24,000. In Raynham, a sewer superintendent got $30,000 and in East Bridgewater, a police chief received more than $73,000.

Generous sick and vacation buy-backs have long been allowed for area municipal employees – but they are a benefit that one expert calls “relics of an earlier era that is long gone.”

“Cities and towns can no longer afford these kinds of extravagant benefits,” said Michael J. Widmer, president of the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation.

Widmer said generous buy-backs can deplete municipal budgets that are already cash-strapped.

“Cities and towns are having to find every imaginable way to brings these expenses in line,” Widmer said.

But some town employees are still cashing in, using buy-backs to take home more taxpayer-funded earnings.

According to town records, East Bridgewater Police Chief John Cowan, 56, didn’t take one sick or vacation day in seven fiscal years – from fiscal 2005 to 2011 – opting to receive cash payments for the time instead.

For the calendar years 2008 to 2011, Cowan received a total of $73,712 in payments for unused sick and vacation days, town records show.

Town records also show Cowan was paid for 90 unused vacation days and 60 unused sick days for fiscal 2005 through 2007. The amount of those pay-outs could not be determined Wednesday, since the town’s payroll software only goes back to 2008, town records show.

When asked why he hasn’t taken a vacation or sick day in seven fiscal years, Cowan said he took the option of getting paid for that time instead.

“I understand that people have questions. I don’t think people are going to question that I’m not here,” Cowan said. “In 30 years, I haven’t taken a sick day. I always show up for work.”

“I’m just here all the time,” Cowan said. “I work and I have an option of either taking the vacation time or getting paid for it and I put in for it. You know, I am here.”

Widmer, of the the Massachusetts Taxpayers Foundation, called Cowan’s buy-backs “a whopping amount” for one employee.

From fiscal 2005 to 2011, Cowan cashed out a total of 210 unused vacation days and 140 unused sick days, town records show.

His former contract, which ran from July 1, 2007 through June 30, 2011, allowed Cowan to receive payments for 30 vacation days and 20 sick days annually that were unused, town records show.

Employees in other local communities have cashed in unused sick and vacation time.

Page 2 of 2 - In February, Brockton’s former mayoral chief of staff Kenneth Thompson received $18,894 in unused sick, vacation and personal days accumulated over three years as part of a separation agreement with the city.

In December 2011, Abington Town Accountant Anthony Sulmonte received nearly $24,000 in unused sick and vacation time as part of a separation agreement with the town after more than a decade on the job.

In 2006, Raynham renegotiated the contract of Sewer Superintendent Frank Cabral Jr.’s contract that allowed him to cash in $30,200 of unused sick time.

Brockton Councilor-at-large Thomas Brophy said contracts often require the city to pay its employees for unused sick and vacation time.

“Most city employees are union members and most of it is contractual,” Brophy said.

But “it’s not unusual, even for non-contractual situations,” Brophy said. “It’s up to the mayor and the City Council (to approve buy-backs). There is precedence for it.”

Cowan said his current contract, which he renegotiated with town officials last year, did away with the provision that allowed him to receive sick and vacation time buy-backs annually.

Under his current contract, which runs through June 30, 2015, Cowan will get payment for all accrued vacation leave “upon retirement or death.”

Cowan receives 10 vacation days and 20 sick days annually with his current contract. He may accumulate up to a maximum of 225 sick days, his new contract states.

Cowan said this year, he has already used nine of his 10 vacation days.

He said he negotiated a salary of $150,000, up from $87,420 in fiscal 2010, with the town last year when the sick and vacation time buy-back provision was removed from his contract.

“Now I don’t get sick time buy-back, I don’t get any of the extra payments,” Cowan said. “There’s just one line. It simplified the contract.”